Why is innovation so important?
Right now, under the current circumstances, innovation is vital. It’s not only important in small business, work or other income generation, but also in all spheres of our lives. Think of your personal circumstances — where you need to innovate? Does your lifestyle need change?
A basic definition of innovation is change in methods, products and new ideas. It sounds simple enough but the big word in that definition is “change”. We live with constant chain but do we accept the changes happening around us? Are we prepared to adapt and change?
During the festive season I visited a coastal town which used to have four computer shops. Now because of changing circumstances, only one computer shop remains. What was the reason for the demise of the other three shops? Quite simply it was a change in shopping centre rentals – ever rising – and changing customer buyer behaviour. Rentals are crippling for small businesses and customers are hanging onto their existing computer equipment, the delaying repairs and not buying as much new equipment as they used to.
What about the remaining computer shop? Has it made any changes? Well, their change was made long ago when the computer shop was started on main Street rather than in a shopping centre. But this remaining computer shop will still need to keep on its toes when it comes to making changes in methods, new products and new ideas.
This holiday season I used Airbnb for the first time. Overall, it was a good experience. What the technology has done is to make available new self catering establishments with competitive pricing. However, new technology still has its drawbacks. The use of Airbnb meant that I had to pay a giganic 14% — can you believe it — service fee. When you get right down to it Airbnb is just another Tollgate pumping profits by raking massive fees off small business people (familiary story, isn’t it) . Hopefully, other technology operators in the travel industry will come up with new products and services to lower the costs for holiday accommodation.
How does one start to implement innovation in your life? It all begins with a simple step of reflecting on the present circumstances of your life and identifying where there are opportunities to make changes. If you are not motivated to do this, consider the penalties of delaying action, the costs that you are accumulating around you and the opportunities that you are missing.
